The Problem With High Elixir Defensive Cards

For Clash Royale, many meta cards have risen to the table, and there has been a pattern for every one of these cards. They either have a great, cheap, defense, or a more expensive counterpush.

Look at the knight, for instance. This 3 elixir card can take out many cards, and it can create a potent defense that does not have to translate to a counterpush, but can.

The mega knight is an example of the latter meta cards. This card can stop many fireballies due to its splash damage, and knockback on spawn. When he takes them out, he provides a potent offense that requires a lot of elixir to counter.

Expensive defensive cards rarely ever become meta, and these cards will probably never reach the meta status. This is due to the mechanics of gaining an advantage over the opponent: either creating an elixir advantage or providing a good counterpush.

When looking at the sparky for instance, she costs 6 elixir. She is only able to counter pushes for a positive elixir trade when she is playing against heavy beatdown decks. This creates a problem when heavy beatdown has trouble in the current meta with the influx of powerful control cards like the goblin hut and pekka.

With this in mind, she has to create a good counterpush in order to work well, but she doesn't.

This applies to other defensive cards like the bowler, wizard, etc. They are unable to gain elixir advantages, and they can't counterpush. It becomes quite difficult to get value for these cards when they aren't very offensive.

This is based on one major factor though; they have to be countered for a positive elixir trade on defense.

For example, the PEKKA is a defensive goddess, and while she suffers on offense, she usually requires the same amount of elixir to counter as she costs. This is especially true when you can support her with other cards like the zap, electro wizard, etc. and this requires the opponent to usually spend more elixir then they want to.

With a card like a wizard, you can usually just play a knight or even an ice golem, and the wizard dies. And that's a reason why this card isn't meta.

This is why the giant is so popular with these cards. With the best mid-cost tanky offense in the game, cards like the sparky, wizard, witch, and bowler can make potent counterpushes that require more elixir to defend than if there was no giant.

Those are the reasons that expensive defensive cards are not meta.

When trying to balance cards like these, if you can find a way to improve the offensive value of these cards without improving the defensive value, you can then say that those are the right balances for those cards.

For example, a buff to the sparky would be to change it's speed from slow to medium. With this buff, she can be more potent on offense, and it does not create any more value on defense.

So, I hope you have thought of these cards in a new way and see the reasons why they are underpowered.

Good post. I agree with everything else, but beatdown doesnt suffer in this meta. It is the meta.

Yeah, I think that my mind is still on last meta when royal ghost was first released.

Beatdown is good for sure, but since control counters beatdown pretty well, control can be considered dominant in the meta.

I mean, beatdown can win against control right know, and with the extremely powerful princes, beatdown has an advantage. But, since control naturally counters beatdown, even a tip of the scale can not make a huge difference in the grand scope.

Pekka goblin hut is the main control deck right now, and that deck handily counters giant and golem beatdown decks.

Siege is the archetype that's been suffering though, because beatdown is so popular right now, and siege suffers greatly from dominant beatdown.

Anyway, while beatdown might be powerful, control can still counter it.

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